Noy promotes 2 hero cops, distributes Glock pistols

MANILA, Philippines - Two police officers, a male and a female, received pleasant surprises yesterday when President Aquino ordered that they be granted meritorious promotion for their bravery and determination to catch criminals despite having no service firearms.

Police Officers 2 Edlyn Arbo of the Eastern Police District and PO2 Felipe Moncatar of the Bacolod City police stood out from the crowd of policemen as the President specifically mentioned their individual accomplishments.

The two police officers were recognized during the ceremonial distribution of new 9mm pistols to policemen in ceremonies led by Aquino at the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

Arbo fought back a robber while on board a passenger jeepney along R. Magsaysay St. in Manila last April 2. The suspect stabbed her in the legs and slashed her fingers but Arbo managed to grab the knife.

The robber then pulled out an ice pick, but Arbo got hold of the weapon and stabbed the suspect in the back while he was trying to jump off the jeepney. Arbo later chased and arrested the robber.

Moncatar, on the other hand, arrested several wanted persons despite having no firearm issued to him by the PNP.

Moncatar has been in the police service for almost seven years but the PNP has yet to issue him his service firearm. He said he just bought a secondhand 9mm pistol.

“I’m so happy and I’m still on cloud 9 for being acknowledged by the President himself in front of DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government) Secretary Manuel Roxas II and PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima. Hindi po ako makapaniwala (I couldn’t believe it),” said Moncatar.

Aquino said the actions of Arbo and Moncatar should be rewarded with meritorious promotion.

“I did not notice in the report if the two police officers would be promoted. These kinds of acts are the real definition of meritorious promotion, see to it that these two are promoted,” Aquino told Roxas and Purisima.

Arbo and Moncatar said their reward and recognition would further inspire them to better serve and protect the public.

Arbo has also been in the police service for almost seven years. She was given a 9mm pistol as her service firearm only two years ago and she opted to keep the old firearm instead of getting a brand new 9mm-Glock 17 Generation 4 pistol that the President distributed to policemen.

Aquino also joked that if Arbo is still single, Roxas could stand as a principal sponsor in her wedding, drawing laughter and cheers from the crowd.

Moncatar, on the other hand, will be one of the recipients of the 22,603 new Glock pistols.

Local gun distributor Trust Trade Philippines-Glock Asia won the contract to supply the 59,904 pistols to the PNP worth P1.198 billion that brought the police force closer to providing guns to all 146,000 policemen nationwide.

The Glock 17 pistols are similar to handguns used by police forces in America, Europe and Asia.

It has a market price of around P40,000 each, but PNP got a better deal with the distributor that sold the guns for only P16,659.94 a piece.

Aquino also credited the late interior secretary Jesse Robredo, who spearheaded the procurement of the guns to achieve the goal of arming all policemen.

The government purchased 74,879 new handguns to provide service firearms to all policemen nationwide. There are 52,276 more Glock 17 pistols that would be delivered.

PO2 Ensayra Lucman of the Marawi police was one of the recipients of the brand new firearms, which has 17 cartridges standard capacity, light and easy to carry, easy to use either with left or right hand, dual recoil spring, and adjustable back strap. – With Delon Porcalla, Jennifer Rendon